Die-hard ham-radio operators brave storms, sharks, brutal temperatures to set up temporary transmitting stations in the most remote spots around the world. Tommy Horozakis during a ham-radio expedition to Lord Howe Island east of Australia in 2011. Of the many post-pandemic travel plans being hatched around the world, few are as extreme as what ham-radio operator Dom Grzyb has in mind. The semiretired Polish businessman looks to spend tens of thousands of dollars this year to lead a group of eight to Bouvet Island in the southern Atlantic, an uninhabited locale largely covered in glacial ice. The odds aren’t favorable. High winds and massive waves batter ships entering the region. Among travelers who manage to catch sight of Bouvet Island, which belongs to Norway, some never make shore. Slivers of beach give way to steep rock and ice formations that reach 100 feet and higher. “It’s the most remote island in the world,” said Mr. Grzyb, 47 years old. “It’s also one of the most dangerous places in the world.” Bouvet Island also ranks as the second most-wanted place in the world to contact among ham-radio enthusiasts. These destinations lure the most adventurous of the estimated three million operators world-wide to set up temporary transmitting stations. https://www.wsj.com/articles/post-p...adio-fans-as-far-away-as-possible-11620312400 73, John VK3YP
[QUOTE = "VK3JHA, post: 5851982, lid: 370051"] Die-hard ham-radio-operators trotseren stormen, haaien en brute temperaturen om tijdelijke zendstations op de meest afgelegen plekken ter wereld op te zetten. Tommy Horozakis tijdens een ham-radio-expeditie naar Lord Howe Island ten oosten van Australië in 2011. Van de vele post-pandemische reisplannen die over de hele wereld worden uitgebroed, zijn er maar weinig zo extreem als wat ham-radio-operator Dom Grzyb in gedachten heeft. De half gepensioneerde Poolse zakenman wil dit jaar tienduizenden dollars uitgeven om een groep van acht naar het eiland Bouvet in de zuidelijke Atlantische Oceaan te leiden, een onbewoond gebied dat grotendeels bedekt is met gletsjerijs. De kansen zijn niet gunstig. Hoge windsnelheden en enorme golven beuken schepen die de regio binnenkomen. Onder reizigers die erin slagen het eiland Bouvet, dat bij Noorwegen hoort, te zien, komen sommigen nooit aan wal. Stukjes strand maken plaats voor steile rots- en ijsformaties die 30 meter en hoger reiken. "Het is het meest afgelegen eiland ter wereld", zei meneer Grzyb, 47 jaar oud. "Het is ook een van de gevaarlijkste plekken ter wereld." Bouvet-eiland geldt ook als de op een na meest gewilde plek ter wereld om contact te maken met liefhebbers van hamradio. Deze bestemmingen lokken de meest avontuurlijke van de naar schatting drie miljoen operators wereldwijd om tijdelijke zendstations op te zetten. https://www.wsj.com/articles/post-p...adio-fans-as-far-away-as-possible-11620312400 73, John VK3YP [/ QUOTE] Enjoy the time. Many Dx's. 73's ON7VOX LUKE.
This story actually made the front page (below the fold) of the print version of the WSJ. It's great to see Amateur Radio again get some relatively positive and high-profile attention in more mainstream press. I always look forward to making QSO's with DX'peditions. Not mentioned in this article but related, it now seems there are TWO teams planning for attempts, again, on Bouvet, independently. For those who did not get behind the pay wall like me, here is the "rest of the story" of the WSJ article text as relayed via a thread on Reddit. I added some links in bold with more applicable info. 73, John, WØPV One Group’s Post-Pandemic Travel Plan: Get as Far Away as Possible May 6, 2021 Die-hard ham-radio operators brave storms, sharks, brutal temperatures to set up temporary transmitting stations in the most remote spots around the world Of the many post-pandemic travel plans being hatched around the world, few are as extreme as what ham-radio operator Dom Grzyb 3Z9DX has in mind. The semiretired Polish businessman looks to spend tens of thousands of dollars this year to lead a group of eight to Bouvet Island in the southern Atlantic, an uninhabited locale largely covered in glacial ice. The odds aren’t favorable. High winds and massive waves batter ships entering the region. Among travelers who manage to catch sight of Bouvet Island, which belongs to Norway, some never make shore. Slivers of beach give way to steep rock and ice formations that reach 100 feet and higher. “It’s the most remote island in the world,” said Mr. Grzyb, 47 years old. “It’s also one of the most dangerous places in the world.” Bouvet Island also ranks as the second most-wanted place in the world to contact among ham-radio enthusiasts. These destinations lure the most adventurous of the estimated three million operators world-wide to set up temporary transmitting stations. Ham radios, which connect users across great distances using updated 19th-century technology, work anywhere an operator can tote generators, fuel, amplifiers, antennas and the tools needed to make them work. So-called hams have complied a list of 340 places that span the toughest to the easiest places to contact, starting with North Korea No. 1 and the U.S. No. 340. Hams take pride in reaching the rarest outposts. On the other end of the transmission are those who set up the temporary stations, such as Mr. Grzyb, who in 2015 transmitted from the hams’ holy grail, North Korea. Their job is simple: Get there, power up, get home alive. “We are crazy,” said Tommy Horozakis, VK2IR, who lives near Sydney, Australia. “To us, it’s the thrill, it’s the adrenaline rush, of being able to work people on the other side of the world and bouncing your signals across the ionosphere without the internet.” Mr. Horozakis, 53, is making plans to lead a November expedition of about 10 people to an uninhabited island in shark-populated waters of the Coral Sea south of Papua New Guinea. “I won’t be swimming too far away from shore,” he said. The destination is part of the Willis Islets, a group of three small islands that includes two uninhabited sandy cays, and one that is home to a weather station with an average year-round population of four. The islands rank 38th. The trip will include a roughly 35-hour voyage to ferry the team, along with ham-radio equipment, tents, food and porta-potties. It will cost about $5,000 a person. Tommy Horozakis operating from Campbell Island south of New Zealand in 2012. Mr. Horozakis, who owns businesses in telecommunications and pest-extermination, said a spike in Covid-19 cases could block him from traveling between his state of New South Wales and Queensland, where he has booked the vessel. “If it doesn’t go ahead,” he said, “at least we’ve tried.” These excursions are called DX-peditions, with DX referring to—in ham-radio jargon—transmitting over long distances. The missions, like most international travel, were largely scuttled last year in the pandemic. Once activated at the remote locale, the temporary stations make tens of thousands of contacts with far-flung operators, each exchange lasting a few seconds. The prize for those back home is either a postcard or electronic confirmation, plus bragging rights among peers. Share Your Thoughts What post-pandemic trips are you planning? Join the conversation below. Hams spend considerable time and money improving the reach and performance of their radio stations to make rare and distant connections. In a digital world, where almost everything can be replayed, there are no do-overs. Once a DX-pedition ends, there may not be another activation from that spot for years or decades. Mr. Grzyb spent three days on Bouvet Island in 2001. He tried again in March 2019. The team got within 63 nautical miles when the ship lost its communication antennas in a storm and had to return to South Africa. “It’s for people who are a little bit crazy,” he said. In January 2018, a team sailed 12 days from Chile to Bouvet Island, but rough weather kept its two hired helicopters from flying. After one of the ship’s engines failed in a storm, the captain had enough and returned to port. Adrian "Nobby" Styles G0VJG during a DX-pedition to the Wallis and Futuna islands in the South Pacific in 2019. Adrian “Nobby” Styles expects smoother sailing. The 53-year-old, who lives southeast of London and works in the food-supply business, has set his sights on the Maldives islands—ranked 138th on the ham list because it is more travel friendly. He has already canceled twice because of the pandemic. “Hopefully, it will happen at the end of September,” said Mr. Styles, who will need three flights to get to his Indian Ocean destination with his wife, Maxine. “She loves to lay in the sun all day and I can’t do that,” he said, “but I like to play on the radio.”
